Ross lifts UMaine to victory First career win for new coach Blodgett

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ORONO – There was plenty of nervousness Thursday night as the University of Maine women’s basketball team played its home opener.

Rather than be affected by those feelings, the Black Bears played with the confidence and cohesiveness of a veteran team.

Tanna Ross made an impressive Alfond Arena debut, scoring a team-high 16 points to spark UMaine to a convincing 67-53 victory over Dartmouth.

The fearless freshman swing player from Newburgh hit four 3-pointers and also dished out a game-high seven assists and made three steals in a well-rounded performance.

“It was amazing and our team was so great. I just like playing with everyone. It was a great experience,” said the former Hampden Academy star.

An enthusiastic crowd of 2,377 cheered on the impressive Bears, who gave head coach Cindy Blodgett her first career coaching victory.

“I’m glad it’s over,” said Blodgett, who quickly shifted the focus to the team, which limited perennial Ivy League power Dartmouth (1-1) to 28 percent shooting and showed off many offensive weapons.

“It’s good for the players and I think it’s good for people to see this team play,” she said. “I think definitely people are going to want to come back and see them play, which I kind of knew right along.”

UMaine (1-1) shackled the Big Green with a fluid 1-2-2 matchup zone reminiscent of the defenses employed by former Bears coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie during the program’s heyday.

And, after committing 35 turnovers last week at Clemson, the Bears took better care of the ball against Dartmouth, making 19 turnovers.

UMaine exhibited good ball movement and shot selection, proving there are plenty of scoring threats on the ballclub.

Sophomore guard Kristin Baker of Bingham contributed nine points, five assists and four steals, while sophomore Brittany Boser posted eight points and seven rebounds.

Freshman Emily Rousseau of Biddeford added eight points and Colleen Kilmurray chipped in with six points and seven rebounds for UMaine, which placed all 11 players in the scoring column.

“I think one of the best attributes of our team this year is that everyone is able to score and everyone does score,” Boser said. “It’s very spread out. People are having fun and everyone enjoys passing it to each other just as much as getting their own points.”

Kristen Craft tossed in a game-high 19 points to pace Dartmouth, which lost starters Koren Schram and Darcy Rose to injuries in the first half after they slipped on the court.

The mild, humid weather appeared to cause a problem with condensation on the floor.

“I don’t in any, way, shape or form believe it impacted on my team’s performance and I want to give all the credit to Maine,” said Dartmouth coach Chris Wielgus, who spoke to UMaine athletic director Blake James about the issue.

The Bears, who didn’t seem to have problems slipping, used cohesive defense and opportunistic offense to build a 37-19 halftime lead.

UMaine later led by as many as 23 points and Dartmouth got as close as 14 in the late going.

The Bears turned in a determined effort on the boards and took advantage of transition scoring opportunities.

UMaine started confidently and took the upper hand with a 13-2 run. Leading 10-6, Baker opened the run at the 13:59 mark with a 15-foot jumper, then Ross grabbed a loose ball and scored from underneath.

Boser cashed in a Dartmouth turnover with a move in the paint set up by a feed from Ross, before Sydney Scott hit from the low post to cut the deficit to 16-8 with 11:56 to play.

Ross then buried a 3-pointer, Amanda Tewksbury hit a short shot off a pretty hesitation move and Sandra Vaitkute banked in a turnaround from underneath as the Bears pushed the lead to 23-8.

“They’re very unselfish,” Blodgett said, pointing out UMaine’s 22 assists. “It’s sort of unheard of, with the amount of players that haven’t played minutes in the past. That’s a trademark of really good teams, veteran teams.”

BLACK BEARS 67, BIG GREEN 53

Dartmouth (0-2) Maine (1-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Smith 0 5 3 4 3 Boser 4 7 8

Scott 3 5 1 2 7 Tewksbry 2 4

Rose 0 3 0 0 0 Kilmurray 2 4 6

Craft 8 11 0 0 19 Younan 2 6 6

Schram 0 5 0 0 0 Baker 4 6 9

VandnBch 0 2 3 4 3 Ross 6 15 16

Nikic 0 1 0 0 0 Johnson 1 1 3

Meyer 1 3 0 0 2 Rousseau 3 8

Smith 1 6 5 8 7 Mosher 0 0 1

McFee 0 4 0 0 0 Vaitkute 1 2

Cooper 1 2 2 2 5 Bratishko 1 4

Williams 1 6 5 6 7

Totals 15 53 19 26 53 26 53 67

Dartmouth 19 53

Maine 37 67

3-pt. goals – Dartmouth (4-17): Craft 3-4, Cooper 1-1, Vanden Bosch 0-1, Nikic 0-1, Meyer 0-2, Smith 0-1, McFee 0-2, Williams 0-2; Maine (10-23): Ross 4-11, Younan 2-4, Baker 1-2, Rousseau 2-3, Johnson 1-1, Tewksbury 0-2

Attendance: 2,377